What are the most notable habits of Latin American Internet users? What are their priorities when it comes to consuming different media? What categories do they prefer? The answers to these questions and more, according to comScore's December 2015 rankings.

Source: comScore MMX, Latin America, December 2015, Home and Work, Top Categories, PC/Laptop Only

Total Unique Visitors (000)

% Reach

Total Minutes (MM)

Total Visits (000)

Total Internet : Total Audience

182.473

100,0

217.869

8.224.576

1

Services

178.157

97,6

35.581

5.310.178

2

Social Media

166.137

91,0

65.032

3.917.516

3

Search/Navigation

164.688

90,3

6.801

3.058.071

4

Portals

164.101

89,9

27.005

3.439.753

5

Entertainment

163.894

89,8

42.996

2.781.671

6

News/Information

120.573

66,1

7.347

1.211.204

7

Directories/Resources

119.485

65,5

3.135

718.511

8

Retail

119.249

65,4

5.718

854.644

9

Technology

104.375

57,2

1.415

440.690

10

Lifestyles

102.192

56,0

2.765

519.385

E-mail, Download Sites and Web Hosting Among the Top Activities

97,6% of resident users in Latin America tend to use services like e-mail, downloads and web hosting as a part of their primary online activities. The total number of visitors in this category puts it in first place in the rankings, even above social networks and search engines.

Social Networks Before Search Engines

While the difference is less than a percentage point, social networks are ranked above search engines. This is interesting, as Google sites typically occupy the first stop in comScore rankings (although if we only considered the search engine, Google would probably be ranked lower in those rankings0. Of course, the classification analyzed in this article, within the category of Google "search engines," Google is not the only in the region, although it is the most emblematic and visited of the group.

In this ranking, when it comes to the amount of visitors, there is almost no difference between social media platforms and search engines. Nonetheless, inequality appears with respect to the amount of time users stay on the page: the minutes that users spend on search engines represents 10% of those spent on social networks. There is a reason for this: generally, search engines resolve users' consultations in seconds, while social networks generate an engagement that is reflected in the total number of minutes spent on these platforms.

Similarities in Portals and Entertainment

It is interesting to observe how portals and entertainment sites are visited by the same percentage of users. While they appear individually on the rankings (due to their particularities), what is certain is that portals also tend to satisfy certain entertainment needs by the users.

When it comes to visitor behavior, certain difference are observed: while the amount of minutes on portals is less than that of entertainment sites, the number of visits to portals is larger than that of entertainment sites. In this sense, portals observe "less time on the site and more visits," while entertainment sites observe "more time on the site, and less visits."

Another interesting point is that the amount of unique users in each category is similar to that of visitors in the social media category (which should not be ignored when evaluating the reach of the "portal" and "entertainment" categories, individually).

Inquiries for Useful Data, Visited by 65.5% of Users

65.5% of users use directories, maps and wikis to resolve everyday problems (according to the rankings for Directories/Resources on the rankings).

Retail, Technology and Lifestyle

In the last three spots are retail (65.4%), technology (57.2%) and lifestyle (56%). What's interesting is the connection between the three categories: some technology sites have a direct connection to retail sites, and both categories are very associated with lifestyle.

Each fall, the USHCC hosts the country’s largest gathering of Hispanic business leaders: The USHCC National Convention. The Convention is held every year in a city that embodies the American entrepreneurial spirit and supports a thriving small business community.

With more than 2 billion active users worldwide, and 80 million monthly active users in Mexico alone, the social media giant is boosting revenue at a faster pace than expected. An important part of Facebook's efforts and investments are going into the creation of a major video advertising platform.